Originally posted by Dance Master MCIt is about competing against your fellow chessplayers.
Whats the significance of winning a tournament (octets, banded etc.) when there is going to be another touranament almost identical to the previous one in 2 weeks or so?
(I think thematics are excluded from this)
It is a measure of consistency.
I have won 20 tournaments so far.
For me the only significance of tournament play is the fact that it makes me try a bit harder than I would in a one off game as there is something at stake rather than a few points difference to your rating, I doubt I will ever win a tournament but it gives me an incentive to play more carefully when I enter them.
For me it's a symbol of sustained excellence. In my case, I often get to round two (or much latter in duels) but I often slip up in one or two games against lower rated players thus ruining my chance to win the entire thing. One of my goals is to be able to sustain my play at a level that allows me to win a tournament. Unfortunately, this goal isn't compatible with my other goal of playing 100+ games simultaneously thus deriving maximum enjoyment from this site.